Florence Y’alls Manager Brian White described the culture in the club house as positive despite the adversity the team is facing.
The Y’alls losing streak hit double-digits at 10 in a row after the Lake Erie Crushers (21-27 overall) completed a three-game sweep of the Y’alls (17-30) with a 4-0 shutout at Thomas More Stadium on Thursday. Florence has been swept in three straight series.
“I think the guys are pressing too much trying to do more than needs to be done in order to get that win,” White said. “When you have that monkey on your back, it’s hard to get it off. There are no issues with our guys coming in, wanting to win, wanting to compete and get the job done. We still believe in them. We just have to get over this hump.”
Florence had a hard time squaring up the Lake Erie pitchers batting just .142 (4 for 28) overall. The Y’alls put seven hitters on base all game and did not see anyone reach second base until center fielder Ray Zuberer singled in the bottom of the ninth then took second and third base on wild pitches. But Lake Erie pitcher Alexis Rivero retired the next three Y’alls to end the game leaving Zuberer at third.
Alvarez (3-3) pitched six innings retiring the first seven Florence batters he faced, striking out three and walking just one. Gleyvin Pineda and Sam Curtis pitched the seventh and eighth innings for the Crushers. The Crushers played error-free baseball behind them.
“I think the field had a little bit to do with it,” White said. “There were balls at the top of the zone we were struggling with a bit. The bats were a little bit slow. Hat’s off to (Alvarez). He worked ahead in the count, put us in bad situations with defensive swings and showed up.”
The trio coaxed Florence into two double plays. Lake Erie catcher Casey Combs threw out two Y’alls trying to steal second. The Y’alls recently traded Combs to the Crushers.
Florence second baseman Andres Rios went 2 for 3 to lead the Y’alls. Both singles came off Alvarez.
“I think it goes just based off timely hitting,” Rios said. “We had guys on base. I can’t speak for everyone else. It’s just getting a pitch to hit and getting a pitch you can handle. Right now, we’re just trying to play simple baseball – just put the bat on the ball, hard contact. I think (Brian) White was calling them loud and low line drives. You want loud hits and line drives. That’s what we were trying to go four.”
Florence committed one error defensively in the top of the eighth inning. But the Crushers did not score any runs off it despite putting runners at second and third with one out. Florence brought the infield in and third baseman Bryant Flete threw out Lake Erie third baseman Connor Owings trying to score. Combs then grounded into a force play at second to end the inning.
Alex Wagner (1-1) started for Florence pitching into the sixth inning striking out four and walking two. Tommy Siemer took over with one out in the sixth and finished the game striking out three and walking one. Siemer did not allow a run until Lake Erie left fielder Jake Gitter homered with one out in the top of the ninth.
Lake Erie batted .265 (9 for 34) overall. Owings singled in first baseman Jackson Valera in the top of the first with one out to give Lake Erie the only run needed to win the game on his way to a 2 for 3 game for a double and run batted in.
Lake Erie designated hitter Kokko Figeuiredo went 2 for 4. Second baseman Kemuel Thomas-Rivera hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth and shortstop Kenen Irizarry scored on a passed ball in the top of the third.
Florence hits the road for six games starting Friday at Evansville (31-17). Game time is 7:35 Eastern Standard Time.
